Forgotten (22 page)

Reluctantly, she nodded.

“
All right—you go first.
Just stay in the light.”

“
Of course.” He nodded and
took a cautious step into the lighted side of the hallway. When
nothing happened, he continued down the hallway a few steps before
turning back to look at Kate. “Seems fine. Come on.”

“
Coming.” Kate took a step
but it was as though there was something there in the doorway—some
invisible barrier she couldn’t see but also couldn’t avoid. Though
she tried to step into the lighted side of the hallway, she found
herself on the dark side instead.

Rone, who was watching her anxiously,
frowned.

“
Hey—what are you doing? I
thought you said we had to stay in the light?”

“
I’m…
trying
.” Kate tried to step over
into the right side where the light was pouring down but the
invisible barrier kept her out—kept her in the shadows. It was like
there was a wall between her and the light—an obstruction keeping
her in the dark and the shadows no matter how hard she tried to
push through it.

Deciding that she should go back and try
again, Kate turned and tried to get back into the purple dome with
all the doors. But though she could see the Celestial, Azure,
standing there, she couldn’t get out of the long hallway. She was
trapped there, in the darkness, unable to go back or get into the
light.

“
Kate?” Rone frowned at
her again. “What’s wrong?”

“
I don’t know. There seems
to be some kind of invisible barrier keeping me from getting over
to the light side or from going back into the other room to try
again.” Kate tried to keep the rising panic she felt out of her
voice but this was really freaking her out. “I don’t like this,”
she whispered, her voice tight. “Don’t like it at all.”

“
I don’t either. Hey!”
Rone shouted at Azure, who was still standing there, just outside
the doorway. “What in the Seven Hells is going on here? Why can’t
Kate get out of this hallway or into the light?”

“
You must take the fate
you are dealt,” the Celestial said obliquely, raising his/her
slender, pale blue shoulders. “Perhaps your mate is unable to enter
the light because of the darkness residing within her which yet
needs to be purged. I cannot say—I can only advise you to stay on
the lighted half of the hall yourself. You may escape whatever
torment lies in wait for her that way.”

“
Torment? What the fuck
are you talking about?” Rone looked really upset now. In fact, his
tone was verging on enraged.

“
I’m okay,” Kate told him,
trying to make herself believe it was true. “I mean, it’s just a
little dark, that’s all.” Although it was strange how the shadows
seemed to blur her vision and make it difficult to see over into
the lighted side. What was going on?

“
You’re not all right.”
Rone put up his big hands, searching for the invisible barrier that
Kate had encountered. But his fingers passed right through, sliding
easily into the shadowed part of the hallway.

“
Do not!” Azure sounded so
upset that Kate looked back. The Celestial was standing there,
wringing his/her seven-fingered hands. “If you have been granted
the safety of the light, you must not go into the shadows,” he/she
said, sounding extremely anxious.

“
Why not?” Rone growled.
“Give me one good reason I shouldn’t be with my mate.”

“
It is not safe! The
darkness…it grows within you. It eats your soul and then Madam
Shadow has no choice but to punish you to release it. It is so much
easier…so much better to stay in the light.”

“
Fuck that.” In one swift
move, Rone stepped into the shadowed side of the hallway and came
to stand beside Kate. He wasn’t close enough to trigger the panic
response and freak her out but he was close enough that she no
longer felt alone in the darkness. It was nice and Kate felt the
knot of panic that had been growing in her chest begin to loosen.
Still, she felt she had to say something to him.

“
You didn’t have to do
that,” she murmured as he came to stand beside her. “If this side
is so dangerous maybe you should have stayed in the
light.”

“
No.” Rone’s piercing blue
eyes flashed. “My place is with you. Always.”

At the end of the hallway, they heard Azure
make a sad sound. When she looked into the Celestial’s face, Kate
saw that he/she was almost crying.

“
Two more for the
shadows,” he said mournfully. “Very well—I will inform Mistress
Light…and Madam Shadow. Good bye—this one wishes you
well.”

“
Wait!” Kate called.
“Where do we go from here?”

But the Celestial was already gliding away
noiselessly on pale blue feet.

Rone shrugged. “I guess we just continue
down the hallway.”

“
Yeah, but what are we
going to find when we get to the end?” Kate couldn’t keep the
apprehension out of her voice.

“
Whatever we find, we find
it together,” the big Kindred said firmly. “Come on.”

He led the way forward, forging through the
shadows like a tall man wading through high water. Kate was happy
to follow him this time. Happy to let him go first and grateful
that he had come to join her in the darkness, although she felt a
little guilty about it. Now Rone was going to get a heaping helping
of whatever she herself was slated to take—it hardly seemed fair.
But it was nice that he was so loyal and brave.

For the first time since she’d seen him in
the shopping mall, Kate began to feel something stirring in her
heart for him. Not love—she didn’t know him well enough to love
him. But admiration.

He’s tall and handsome and
devoted and courageous—what’s not to admire?
It sounded like Mimi’s voice in her brain—like something her
roommate and friend would say. She almost felt that if the big
Kindred hadn’t come to her with such high expectations and all
those stories of a past she couldn’t remember, she might have been
interested in him. Well, and if touching him hadn’t caused her to
have panic attacks…there was that to consider too. And—

Her thoughts were cut off as they reached
the end of the long corridor. When she’d been standing at the other
end of it, Kate had been certain there was only one door at the
end—now she saw two. One for the light side and one in the
shadows.

“
Try the light door,” she
said quickly. “Let’s see if we can get through it
somehow.”

Rone reached for the knob but his big hand
wouldn’t pass through from the shadows into the light. He tried
again but with the same result—he was feeling the effects of the
invisible barrier that had kept Kate from passing into the light
earlier.

“
Hey,” he growled,
frowning. “What in the Seven Hells?”

“
I’m afraid you’re stuck
over here with me now.” Kate felt guilty all over again. “Sorry
about that.”

“
It’s okay, baby.” Rone
sighed and reached for the knob on the dark side of the hallway. “I
suppose we’ll just have to go through this one instead.” He looked
at her. “Do you feel anything? Are you getting any danger
signals?”

Kate took a deep breath, waiting to see if
her Knowing would tell her anything—give her any kind of warning.
But her sixth sense was silent.

“
Nothing so far,” she
said. “Let’s go for it.”

“
Agreed.” Rone twisted the
doorknob and pushed open the door.

Chapter
Fourteen

They stepped out of the shadowed half of the
hallway into a vast, dimly lit chamber. Rone looked around warily,
sniffing for any sign of danger. But the only thing his sensitive
nose picked up was the faint hint of spicy peppers. Weird…

“
What is this place?” Kate
asked, coming up behind him. Rone noticed that while she was being
careful not to touch him, she was also staying a little closer than
she had before. Good, he was glad she was staying near—it would
make it easier to protect her if the need arose.

“
This
place
is the entrance to the lower
levels of Frost and Flame,” a new voice murmured from the far side
of the room. “To enter here, one must have been touched by the
Shadow.”

“
Who are you?” Rone
immediately put himself between Kate and the possible threat. “And
what do you want?”

“
This one is only here to
guide you.”

A long, thin shape detached itself from the
shadows at the far side of the room and Rone saw that the being
must be another Celestial, like Azure. Only this one had much
darker coloring—deep blue skin and long blue hair that was
difficult to see in the shadowed room.

“
This one is named
Cerulean,” said their new guide, coming forward. “Come —this one
has been sent to lead you to the Pool of Purification.”

“
Really? Finally!” Kate
stepped out of Rone’s shadow, looking relieved.

“
Wait.” Rone frowned. “Can
you promise us that Kate will come to no harm if she goes into this
pool?” he demanded. “Can you promise that it’s absolutely safe? I
won’t risk her in any way.”

The Celestial raised one deep blue eyebrow
at him.

“
Even to allow her to
regain her memory of you and your life together? Even to have her
back as your mate?”

Rone took a deep breath. “No. Not even for
that.”

“
Hmm.” Cerulean nodded.
“This is good to know. This one will inform the Mistress of Shadows
as to the purity of your motives.”

“
You still haven’t
answered the question,” Rone pointed out. But the tall, thin alien
had already turned and was gliding ahead of them, disappearing into
the shadows at the far end of the room.

“
Come on.” Kate gave him
an impatient look. “We’re going to lose him! Or her—or whatever. We
have to go. I
have
to get into that pool!”

“
Even if it’s dangerous?”
Rone asked, as they followed Cerulean out of the room and into
another long, shadowy corridor.

“
Even if it’s dangerous,”
Kate said grimly.

Rone looked at her
closely. He wished he could be sure that her intense determination
to get into the bio-chelation pool had to do with her wanting to
come back to him—to get back to their normal life. But somehow he
doubted it. Kate was the type of female who didn’t like to be
uncertain or out of control of her life or circumstances. Doubtless
having a three year gap in her memory made her feel
extremely
out
of control and she didn’t like that
feeling.

He thought it was more probable that her
need to regain order and certainty, rather than any wish to resume
her life with him, was driving her now. Still, he felt uneasy about
letting her take a risk—no matter how small—with her life.

“
What if it’s really not
safe?” he asked, frowning down at her. “Kate, I just don’t know
about this. Now that we’re here I keep getting bad feelings about
this place.”

“
Look, Commander Sylvan
sent us here specifically to use this pool,” she pointed out. “So
it
must
be safe.”
She threw Rone a glace. “I just want my memory back,” she said in a
low voice. “I just want to know what the hell I’ve been doing for
the past three years. I don’t even know how my mother died, Rone.
And no—” She held up a hand. “I don’t want you to tell me. I need
to find out on my own.”

He shrugged helplessly. “All right, I
understand.” He did, too. Kate was a very independent female—one
who liked to do things for herself. Which was why it had been so
special to him when she’d allowed herself to relax and let him do
little things for her—like helping her down from a high spacecraft
doorway or reaching things on a tall shelf for her. Or cradling her
in his arms like a little girl when she needed to feel close to
him…

A wave of longing so strong it nearly
brought him to his knees passed over Rone. Gods, how he missed
her—his beautiful mate! She was right here beside him and yet he
couldn’t touch her—couldn’t take her in his arms and kiss and
caress her the way he longed to do so desperately. Would a swim in
the bio-chelation pool cure that? Or would she come out of it
cleansed of the fear toxins and with a restored memory but with
still no interest in him? Maybe she would decide to start fresh—to
put him out of her life. Maybe he was never destined to hold her
again…

The
hunger
stirred inside him at the
thought and his Beast gave a low, warning growl.

“
Here we are at last—the
Chamber of Purification. And this is the Pool of Purification.” The
Celestial’s soft voice cut into his troubled thoughts and the
calling of the
hunger.

Looking up, Rone saw that they had come out
of the narrow hallway into another large, stone chamber which
appeared to be underground. There were no windows but a diffuse,
bluish light seemed to be coming from the walls. It did little to
dispel the shadows. However, there was one brighter source of
illumination—a harsh white spotlight of sorts came down from the
ceiling to light up a rectangular hole in the floor. It was about
seven feet deep by ten feet across and lined with the same gray
flagstones that made up the rest of the floor, walls, and ceiling.
But when Rone looked into it, it was completely empty.